USS ''Lloyd E. Acree'' (DE-356) was a acquired by the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in
convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or
radar picket
A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military (including naval) force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack, or from cr ...
.
Namesake
Lloyd Edgar Acree was born on 31 July 1920 in
Beggs, Oklahoma
Beggs is a city in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,321 at the 2010 census. Beggs was named for C.H. Beggs, vice president of the St. Louis-San Francisco (Frisco) Railway.
History
Starting as a Frisco railroad s ...
. His family moved to
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
, the year after he was born. He graduated from Central High School in 1939 and the following year, on 17 October 1940, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy at
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, Texas. He attended training at the Naval Training Station,
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, and was then assigned to the heavy cruiser effective 10 December 1940. He received promotion to seaman second class on 17 February 1941 and then to seaman first class on 1 July of that same year. A few months later, on 1 August 1941, he promoted to his final rating of aviation ordnanceman third class.
On the night of 11 October 1942, ''Salt Lake City'' was operating as part of Task Group 64 when it encountered a large
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...
cruiser-destroyer bombardment group off
Cape Esperance
Cape Esperance () is the northernmost point on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
History
The Battle of Cape Esperance, one of several naval engagements fought in the waters north of the island during the World War II Guadalcanal campaign, took its ...
, the northernmost point of
Guadalcanal and a
furious night battle ensued. In the midst of the engagement a Japanese shell burst close aboard the starboard side of ''Salt Lake City'' and sprayed the cruiser with shell fragments. Acree was loading a 5-inch shell into the No. 3 gun when shrapnel from the explosion tore into his arm and abdomen. He fell to the deck but despite his injuries, clung to the shell he had been holding in order to prevent it from exploding. Although quickly treated, he succumbed to his mortal wounds a short time later. He was posthumously awarded the
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...
.
Construction and commissioning
The destroyer escort's
keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
was laid down by
Consolidated Steel
Consolidated Steel Corporation (formed 18 December 1928) was an American steel and shipbuilding business. Consolidated built ships during World War II in two locations: Wilmington, California and Orange, Texas. It was created in 1929 by the merg ...
Corp. at their yard in
Orange, Texas
Orange is a city and the county seat of Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 19,324. It is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, and is from Hous ...
on 24 January 1944. The ship was
launched on 21 March 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Ora A. Acree. ''Lloyd E. Arcee'' was
commissioned on 1 August 1944.
Operational history
After
shakedown out of
Bermuda
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = National song
, song = "Hail to Bermuda"
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, mapsize2 =
, map_caption2 =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name =
, es ...
and convoy operations, ''Lloyd E. Acree'' was assigned to
CortDiv
The structure of the United States Navy consists of four main bodies: the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, the operating forces (described below), and the Shore Establishment.
Office of the Chief of ...
82 and departed
Norfolk, Virginia, for the South Pacific Ocean on 21 October. Steaming via the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
, the
Societies
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...
, and the
New Hebrides
New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...
, she reached
Hollandia,
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
on 28 November for duty with the
U.S. 7th Fleet.
Invasion of the Philippines operations
Following
antisubmarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are ty ...
(ASW) training off New Guinea, ''Lloyd E. Acree'' sailed 13 December as escort for a 44-ship convoy bound for
Leyte
Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census.
Since the accessibility of land has be ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. She arrived
San Pedro Bay on 21 December and after an escort run to the
Palau
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...
s and back, she returned to
Hollandia as convoy escort on 13 January 1945. During the first three months of 1945, she continued to escort the vital troop and supply convoys which were important to the success of the
Allied offensive in
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
. The destroyer escort arrived at
Mangarin Bay
Mangarin Bay is a bay of the South China Sea, on the west coast of Mindoro island, in Occidental Mindoro Province of the Philippines.
The bay is shoal, and sheltered from the wind by Mangarin Point to the east and by Ilin Island.
Magarin Poin ...
,
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...
on 18 March and began ASW patrol duty in the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...
. During the next four months she cruised in search of enemy
submarines from Mindoro to
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Sub ...
.
Rescuing downed flyers
While on patrol off Mindoro 8 April, she rescued survivors of a
Liberator which had exploded en route to a bombing mission over
Formosa. In addition she supported the training of U.S. 7th Fleet submarines off the Philippines.
End-of-war operations
''Lloyd E. Acree'' resumed convoy escort duty in the closing weeks of the war. She departed Subic Bay on 12 July as escort for a convoy bound for
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
. She continued operating between the Philippines and the
Ryūkyūs until 12 September when she began weather patrols off the Philippines. For more than five months she operated out of various Philippine ports from
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, Luzon, to
Guiuan
Guiuan ( ˆgiËŒwan; war, Bungto han Guiuan, fil, Bayan ng Guiuan), officially the Municipality of Guiuan, is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. It constitutes the southeastern extremity of Samar Island and ...
,
Samar
Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
while gathering important weather information in the
Philippine Sea.
Departing Manila on 15 February 1946, ''Lloyd B. Acree'' steamed to the coast of China and arrived
Tsingtao
Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
20 February. For almost 2 months she operated in the
Yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the ...
and
East China Seas in ASW training and supporting Chinese Nationalists during their struggle with Chinese
Communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
.
Post-war decommissioning
On 15 April she departed Tsingtao via the
Marianas,
Marshalls
Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. M ...
, and
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
, and reached
San Pedro, Los Angeles on 11 May. There she
decommissioned on 10 October, was inactivated at
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
, California, 20 November, and joined the
Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was berthed at
Mare Island, California
Mare Island ( Spanish: ''Isla de la Yegua'') is a peninsula in the United States in the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait juncture with the eas ...
, and struck on 15 January 1972. She was sold for scrap on 13 June 1973.
References
*
External links
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd E. Acree
John C. Butler-class destroyer escorts
Ships built in Orange, Texas
1944 ships
World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States